Hood clearance issues are the least of my worry at this point. I plan on going with a blow through carburetor (which will eliminate my horizontal issues of needing a intercooler since carbs run significantly cooler), however I will need additional vertical space regardless.

Do you still have your ls1 oil pan setup? Ide be interested in getting it off of you if so. I am going to shoot you my cell number so we can bounce ideas off one another more readily.

fender
 

as far as the fender... only the top half is wide, the bottom will just curve into the tire well...

https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1435688118
You can see by the door area, i have the fender popping out about an inch and a half, why? I saw it on an Rx7 and liked it :)
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1435688118

been a while since i worked on this car... i was looking into buying the v8 roadster frame rails but decided to build my own...
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1454706881

So wait a second here. So you mean to tell me you got the LS1 in there with only cutting up the passenger side of the subframe. And had steering rack clearance with the holley 302-2???

Would you estimate the engine sits a lot higher than the V8R subframe?

Is the reason you didnt have to cut up the driver side because you dont need the room for the header?